Thursday, March 28, 2013

My adopted city of Huntsville has the amazing opportunity to be the host of the Social Media Tourism Symposim..Yay! I am so excited to do my part in spreading the word and getting the vote out. This would be a great event for the city, allowing people to come and see why I fell in love with the Tennessee Valley. Huntsville has a large social media presence especially in the area of bloggers! Members of Rocket City Bloggers, Rocket City Moms are just a few that passionately share events, news, travel and more throughout cyber space. Huntsville is a hub of technically and science, we offer great shopping, dining, culture, history and finally some of the most amazing people!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The process to re-introduce yourself to your natural hair can be a scary, amazing and comical journey. I began mine back in 2007 and I felt like a fish out of water trying to breathe. There was mostly negativity around me (except my husband & kids) and everyone was treating me like I had an undiagnosed mental condition. Luckily for me I realized that it didn't matter what others thought.. I would have confidence in my decision and faith that it would be what I needed and wanted for myself. I found refugee in YouTube, blogs forums and trial and error.

Last week I received my copy of CurlyNikki's Better than Good Hair and it made me remember the fear of the unknown I had at the beginning... So I decided I must give away a copy of this book!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Well let me begin by saying I am not a food expert but I am particular when it comes to what I put in my mouth...I don't like just anything so when a restaurant catches my taste buds its a big deal. My family and I were roaming the streets of Madison (Alabama that is) with our stomachs in an uproar when we saw a line of people outside of a place I had never heard of. It was called Smashburger and everyone seem to be happily waiting for a chance to get their meal. I sent my husband in to get a menu so we could decide if this would be the place to fill our bellies.

My crew has a few restrictions when it comes to dining..1st I am extremely allergic to seafood so I don't like to dine in places that offer it ( I will make some exceptions but not many) 2nd my daughter is Vegetarian and wants more than just a salad...I quickly scanned the menu and Smashburger was doing good so far..No seafood & vegetarian options..YES! We decided to give it a try with my son, husband and I ordering the BBQ Bacon & Cheddar burger while my daughter gave the Spicy Veggie Black Bean burger a spin. They gave us a option of either a "smash" or "double smash" size for each burger and we chose the smash (well everyone except my greedy husband)..They also carry my husband's all time favorite sweet potato fries, which he ordered and my kids and I went with their signature Smash Fries. Finally I noticed they offered milkshakes made with Haagen- Dazs ice cream so I ordered a vanilla one and was ready to get this meal going.

I truly enjoyed my meal at Smashburger! The burger was larger than most, seasoned very well and that egg bun was the best I had ever eaten. The smash fries weren't my favorite, they were a little too oily for my taste but my kids loved them. The milkshake was great with them serving it old fashion style with the mixing cup, it was rich a creamy like I expected from Haagen-Dazs.

* If you go to their website and join their club you will receive a great coupon in your email that you can use on your visit to the restaurant. *

I returned to try a salad and I ordered a Baja sald with chicken and it was superb! It was served in a deep bowl with knife and fork and I couldn't find anything wrong with it. I had to say no tomatoes but that was it, I ate it served the way it came otherwise. Smashburger has become one of my favorite places to eat.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Have you ever found yourself watching natural hair tutorials like its the Food Network? The food looks so good, you jot down the recipes, you say you "must" try it but then file it in the Ooh Awe Maybe One Day folder?... Well I am Guilty! I watch my favorite vloggers faithful a few times a week and get excited about the styles they create but fall short of making time to give the look a try. Well its time for me to change that! I will start my journey of re-creating the styles on my natural hair To Try List ...Hopefully I'll find my Spring/Summer look....

I debated between my girl (in my head) MakeupanBeautyJunkie's spiral curl set and my homegirl (don't know her but she is a Detroiter) CharyJay's flat twist out. Both styles were gorgeous and had a lot of body and volume, so I decided to let my hair supplies decide for me. Perm rods were needed for both but CharyJay's only required a few for the ends so with the mysterious roller bandit hitting my house in the last few months the decision was made. I watched her video twice and was ready to get to work. I didn't have the products she used but I figured I could make it work. My natural hair product stash is so bare but I was able to pull out a few things to hopefully keep me from looking like a hot mess.

Note: I have done flat twists before with great results but this was the first time I did it on dry hair and created the twists in this direction of on the side and a section in the back.

I really like it! I however realize that I have a bad habit I must break immediately! When doing flat twist, I unknowingly switch to grabbing the hair in 3 sections for a moment but then go back to 2..Its crazy, so when I remove the twist there is one portion that seems like a braid causing a bit of frizz...I will practice on my daughter's hair and see if I can correct this..

Here's MakeupanBeautyJunkie's video!

What do you guys think? Have you tried to re-create styles? What are your favorites?Leave your comments! I enjoy reading them!